This took poor Tony Fabris, my sainted recording studio monkey, forever to mix because my banjola was having winter pouts or something. Place your hand over your heart and think of his aggravated expression with love as you enjoy the final product.

(The image to the left is "the defence of the Sampo," a painting by Akseli Gallen-Kallela. The white-haired dude is Väinämöinen - in Finland, the constellation Orion is called Väinämöinen's Scythe.)

lyrics

capo 2 Am G Am G Am G Am G

The mountain's snowy top and face of spar Am G Em
Reflect the moon's serene, indifferent rays Em Am G Am
And Venus when she is an evening star Am G Em
Is undiminished now by lingering day Em Am G Am

Orion's distant sword swings overhead F G C Am
In blessing or in threat? No one can say. F G Am Em
No omen is discerned, no portents read F G C Am
The meaning of the stars is not betrayed F G Am Em

to me. Am G Am G Am G Am G

Through pale and starveling days we bleakly wait Am G Em
For darkness to be spent and so retreat Em Am G Am
For winter to renounce her cold estate Am G Em
And coax the creeping springtime's mellow heat Em Am G Am

Orion's distant sword swings overhead F G C Am
In blessing or in threat? No one can say. F G Am Em
No omen is discerned, no portents read F G C Am
The meaning of the stars is not betrayed F G Am Em